Winnipeg: The Frontier Centre for Public Policy today released Getting off the Climate Change Bandwagon. This policy study provides an analysis of the current state of research concerning the global warming phenomenon that has been observed in recent decades. Contrary to the claims of certain activists, politicians and members of the media, there are thousands of experts who do not find convincing support in the existing scientific evidence for the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide are causing or are likely to cause dangerous global warming.
In this study, Tom Harris, executive director of the International Climate Science Coalition, argues that the evidence for catastrophic manmade global warming is far from conclusive, and that claims of an immediate climate crisis are not based on a solid evidentiary base. Harris argues for a new, inclusive approach to the scientific debate in this area – expanding the tent of climate skepticism through non-partisan science communication.
Findings:
Harris provides 14 examples of open letters and other declarations opposing the manmade climate crisis hypothesis that have, in total, been signed by thousands of scientifically qualified individuals. By providing some details about these declarations and links to their contents and lists of signatories, Harris shows that the science is far from settled in this area and that there are many qualified experts who dispute the notion that manmade climate change constitutes a serious danger to the well-being of humanity.
Examples presented by Harris include:
- 2010: SPPI letter to the U.S. EPA—signed by 35 climate and related experts.
- 2009: Copenhagen Climate Challenge which currently lists 166 experts well qualified in climate science plus some in ‘other related disciplines’.2009: Open Letter to the Council of the American Physical Society—signed by 61 experts.
- 2009: Climate Change Reconsidered: 2009 Report of the Nongovernmental Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Craig Idso and S. Fred Singer, eds.; 36 contributors listed. Easily read summary may be seen here.
- 2008: Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change, 1,497 endorsers, over half of them well qualified in science and technology and 206 of them climate science specialists or scientists in very closely related fields.
- 2007*: Open Letter to the Secretary- General of the United Nations (the “2007Bali open letter”), 100 scientist signers.
- 2006: Open Kyoto to Debate—An open letter to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, from 60 climate experts.
- 2003: Protocol lacks ‘credible science’—Open letter to Canadian PM Paul Martin,46 leading scientists endorsed this.
- 2002: Open letter to Canadian PM Jean Chretien, 30 scientist signers.
- 1997: Global Warming Petition Project—organized through the Oregon Institute
- of Science and Medicine, starting in 1997. That document now claims some 31,486
- U.S. scientists and technically qualified signers, 9,029 with PhDs—see breakdown.
“Public uncertainty about the science backing the global warming scare is higher now than at any time in the past 20 years,” says report author, Tom Harris. “New, more effective strategies need to be developed to help average citizens understand that their skepticism is well founded- many professional scientists, highly qualified in the field, also do not support forecasts of human-caused climate disaster.”
Download a copy of the Getting Society Off the Climate Change Bandwagon here.
For more information and to arrange an interview with the study’s author, media (only) should contact:
Tom Harris, B. Eng., M. Eng.
Executive Director – International Climate Science Coalition
613.728.9200
tom.harris@climatescienceinternational.net
Marco Navarro-Genie, Ph.D.
Research Director, Frontier Centre
403.995.9916
navarrom@fcpp.org
